Saturday, June 25, 2011

Moroccan!

Our new Tagine!

My latest obsession is all things Moroccan. This isn't exactly a new development since I've been desperately searching for a Moroccan Tea set for the last 6 months or so to no avail (the last Moroccan teapot I had my eye on was $1600 USD). But a few weeks ago I discovered that a Moroccan Fest was going on at Bur Juman Center (one of the countless malls here), so we obviously had to check it out. I may have been a bit overzealous in my purchases, but it turned out to be a very successful shopping trip indeed. After a delicious lunch at Paul (one of my favorite lunch spots, a French Boulangerie with super yummy croque monsieur and gratins) we perused all the various booths. In the end we ended up the proud owners of the beautiful (and useful!) tagine above, along with a Moroccan lantern, and most excitingly I finally got my Moroccan tea set complete with a teapot, colored teacups, and a silver tray. So excited to use them all! I guess this the Dubai version of filling my kitchen gadget void, not having had any of my awesome Crate & Barrel kitchen gadgets for almost two years now...

Chicken and Apricot Tagine. Yum!

So we immediately had to try making our first tagine, a slow-cooked stew with the meat braised at a low temperature and then served over couscous. We tried a recipe with chicken and apricots that turned out absolutely deliciously. Now I can't wait to try some more!

The finished product, with our new lantern behind.

Our Moroccan teapot! (Along with our new tablecloth that I had made using Indian fabric one of my students gave me, and our Eggs Benedict for breakfast today, and the lovely lilies Jared surprised me with for the last day of school last week)... Since school is out now, I head home for the summer in 2 days! I can't wait!!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Exciting News!

Harrod's Spicy Stem Ginger Oatflake Biscuits, Jared's gift from his new firm.

A week ago today on Wednesday, May 25th an exciting announcement was made: Jared's law firm, was acquired by a huge international law firm. Quite exciting because the firm that bought his firm is an enormous international law firm based in the UK. Now, instead of working for a small boutique corporate law firm based in Dubai, Jared works for a firm with 50 offices worldwide (but sadly no US presence)... Very exciting news, so I just had to share!